Last One Standing
by datenXshi
Summary: So you think he's dead? He's not. He's back, and he's back for revenge. He wants THEM dead. All dead until the last one standing. Then he'll bring that one down and claim the title for himself.
1. Looking on the Dark Side of Things

**DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO NINTENDO/SEGA.**

* * *

**BEEEEEP. BEEEEEP. BEEEEEP.**

An obnoxious alarm screamed through the intercoms placed throughout the mansion as everyone's eyes shot open. They were all bloodshot and bleary, and would have been comical if it wasn't for the fact that they were all caged like animals under lock and key.

**BEEEEEP. BEEEEEP. BEEEEEP.**

"ATTENTION ALL SMASHERS."

**BEEEEEP. BEEEEEP. BEEEEEP.**

"I WANT ALL OF YOU TO REPORT TO THE MAIN HALL IN FIVE MINUTES," Tabuu's voice was (somehow) even louder than the blaring sound.

**BEEEEEP. BEEEEEP. BEEEEEP.**

"ALSO."

**BEEEEEP. BEEEEEP. BEEEEEP.**

"FOR THIS MORNING AND FOR THIS MORNING ONLY, YOU MAY PUT ON YOUR NORMAL CLOTHING. THAT IS ALL."

Silence.

"Well." After a few moments, Ganondorf's deep, gravelly voice rang out in the empty hallway. "That's actually quite nice of him,"

"What?" Zelda asked. She kicked off her sheets and walked to the bars of her cell. Pushing aside the curtain and peeking her head out, she looked at Ganondorf in the cell across from hers.

"See, " he continued in a dry tone, stretching, "he's letting us wear our clothes so we can have a nice, memorable, comfortable execution. That way, when they put our dead bodies up for everyone else to see, they'll see us in our normal clothes and they won't think we don't have any sense of style if we wear those orange tracksuits."

A small snort of laughter drew their attention to the cell next to Zelda's. "That's nice, Mr. Brightside," Link mimicked Zelda's pose and gazed out at them both. "But I think you should stop, you're scaring Dark."

"Yes, with your face," came Dark Link's sarcastic remark. He stepped out of the shadows, then laughed as the King of Evil missed his pointed ear by an inch. "Those platform heels really aren't working for you, huh?"

Ganon snorted. "I'm better off wearing these than swaggering around in those Uggs of yours."

"At least I can get a new pair… What are you gonna do with your brain when King Kong asks for his bananas back?"

"So you stopped wetting the bed? That was our deal, you could call me stupid when you stopped wetting the bed."

Dark suddenly stopped moving and looked Ganondorf up and down blankly. "…"

"What are you looking at?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

This went on for another minute or so, until Zelda finally put her foot down. Literally.

The stomp of the brown boot was so loud in the small corridor, that it drowned out the rest of Ganon's comeback about Dark's "dress from Aero".

"Come on, you two! Please don't make it any worse than it actually is right now. If I am going to have my final memories of you, please make them be nice ones."

"But mom-"

"Don't."

Link opened his mouth to say something, but the solid steel bars blocking their way to freedom began sliding upwards. They filled the Smashers' ears with a sound between a pre-puberty truck horn and a Cuckoo being thrown of the Bridge of Eldin. It ended as soon as it had started.

Everyone looked around, taking in the sight before their eyes. They could run… But they couldn't hide. Besides, It would be better to face a quick death than one that Tabuu would have planned for them if they tried.

"Well," Link said. "After you."

Ganondorf walked out first, followed closely by Zelda. Link and Dark went behind. Right as Dark had taken the first step out of his cell, he took a sudden leap as the bars crashed back down with a defiant BANG.

Dark looked over his shoulder and shrugged. "No turning back now." He marched ahead of everyone and held open the door that led them out of the musty hallway. Then he took a small bow and swept his hand toward the blinding light.

"Say hi to Nayru for me, alright?"


	2. Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

**Sorry, I was grounded for a while. _ But here you go.**

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to Nintendo/Sega.**

* * *

The small room was alive with whispers and the rain-like pattering of feet on the floor.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know."

"Where's Tabuu?"

"SHHHHHH!"

"Are… Are we going to die?"

"I'm scared…"

A bright flash of light near the front of the room chased away all movement and noise. A second later, the blue celestial being hovered in front of them all. His empty eyes seemed to be closed, but he saw all. Without ears he heard everything, and he killed mercilessly without a true body. The master of Subspace himself, and now the Smashers.

His name was Tabuu.

"Hello everyone," he began in his usual cold tone. He was greeted back with silence. "I am glad to see that you have all reported here on time. Otherwise… The consequences would have been dire." He paused for a ghost of a smirk.

"Now. I guess that you are all wondering why I have collected you all here?"

Another gap of silence.

"It's for a special treat."

At these five words, Ness, Lucas, the Ice Climbers, and Kirby nearly jumped out of their seats. A treat? From Tabuu? It was like a dream.

The blue being smiled at the younger Smashers. So innocent. So naïve. So clueless. _But they will be a great entertainment for what is about to come, _he thought. _But when I get bored, I'll just… dispose of them. _

"No. Not that kind of treat." The five Smashers sank back into their seats. "This kind of treat is for all of you. No… not all. First of all, not them." Tabuu gestured behind him. The Smashers craned their necks to see what he was pointing his arm at.

"OH!" The princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach, screamed and collapsed over in a dead faint. Her friend, Daisy, caught her before she could hit the ground. But tears clouded her own emerald eyes as they scanned the sight before her.

She saw them, all of the Smashers that had been missing over the past few weeks. She had always been wondering what had happened to them and now she was satisfied with an answer.

Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, Yoshi, Waluigi, Toon Link, Paula, Jeff, Peppy Hare, Zant, Navi, Slippy, Leon, Pigma, Lyn, ROB, Olimar, Mr. Game and Watch, Big Boss, Gray Fox, Knuckle Joe, and many more appeared before her.

Dead.

No. No! NO! It couldn't be real. She wanted to believe that she was still sleeping, and it was all just a nightmare. She wanted to believe that they were just recovering in the emergency room after their violent brawls. But how could you recover drowning in a pool of your own blood?

Tabuu smiled, taking in the fear of the Smashers before him. "This is what they get," he said, drawing the fear-filled eyes back to him. "This is what they get… for being boring. They lost. They didn't put up a good fight. They were merciful cowards. So, I got rid of them. They were _useless_."

He waved his blue arm, obscuring the massacre from view.

"So very unlike you. You, on the other hand, were extremely entertaining. You lived. You made an exciting show. You8 are all actually worthy of something. Therefore, you deserve a prize for that." Tabuu spread his arms like he was expecting a hug from someone. "This kind of prize I describe would be a special brawl. Yes, a very special one indeed."

He looked down the rows of Smashers in their chairs. Trembling, crying, seeming weak… No. They would have to learn. This would teach them. This would teach them the true meaning of pain.

"Now… This brawl will be unlike any other one you have ever seen before. Number one, it will involve every single one of you."

"WHAT?!" Bowser clapped his clawed paws over his mouth, but it was too late.

Like a golden snake, a whip extended from Tabuu's outstretched palm and wrapped itself around the Koopa King's scaly neck. Tabuu raised him into the air and held him there like an oversized puppet.

"What was that, Bowser?"

"Kh… I m-meant… How is that st-stage gonna fit us all…?" Bowser clawed at the glowing bond strangling him and squeezing tighter by the second. Tabuu laughed at6 his fruitless attempts and finally said, "I thought so." He dropped Bowser back into his seat and glided soundlessly back to the front of the room.

"Any other objections?" Everyone was silent except for the sound of Bowser's ragged gasping and several quiet sniffles.

"Anyway, Bowser has made a good point," Tabuu said.

The giant Koopa's eyes bulged at the possibility of another assault. To be honest, the Italian plumber was enough.

"The arena, not the stage. You will all be inside of a giant arena. It is about twenty times bigger than this mansion. Try to picture it this way… t is one world with all of yours fused together. Mushroom in Hyrule Field, the hills of Popstar flowing with Metroid lava, the clouds of Skyworld covering Green Hill Zone. Anything and everything," Tabuu explained. "'How is this possible?' you ask. The answer is simple, really… It is located in the heart of Subspace."

Without waiting for his expected "gasp of horror and surprise" reaction, the blue being continued speaking. "Number two," he ticked it off on his fingers. "You will all be separated into six teams. Each team will have either five or six people, no more, no less. I will not state the teams now, rather, you will find out when this brawl begins. All five or six of you will appear in the arena in one spot, and it is up to you to survive.

"If every single person one one team is eliminated, then that team will lose and be gone for good. It is your choice whether you want independence or support. Just remember, anyone can turn against you at any time. Even your own allies. When all of the teams have been brought down except for one, each person on that same team will win… A certain prize."

Glances flew around the room like invisible birds. Everyone wanted to know the answer, but no one wanted to ask the question. And they all knew they wanted that prize.

"And now, I am finished. I have explained everything you need to know about this brawl. Survival is up to you and your teammates. From here, you make up your own rules." Tabuu closed his eyes, snapped his fingers, and disappeared in that same flash of light that had greeted them.

No one moved a muscle. A gap of silence filled the space, seeming to suffocate everyone. No one even breathed.

"Ah, I see that whole lot of you are smarter than you look. Very well then, I can't just leave you sitting there forever, can I? Meet me back here in three hours. In the remainder of the time, you are free to explore any part of the mansion you wish.

The room cleared out as fast as water spilling from a bottle.


	3. Reminiscence

**Thank you to MageOfSpace, sora238, CreCra, AwesomeNess, pheaux, Miss Bluth, and Kimyona Baka Deviyel!**

**DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO NINTENDO/SEGA.**

* * *

Most of the Smashers filed out of the room and instinctively drifted off to the mansion's cafeteria. Who knows, what if there was no food that they could find? Better a quick death than starvation.

Some of them put this thought aside and rushed to the training room, longing to forget the events of the day in their combat. But only one chose another option.

Ness wandered aimlessly throughout the vast hallways, not really paying attention to where he was going. They seemed endless, time losing its meaning.

His feet finally brought him to the back courtyard where he sat down at one of the worn wooden benches. He looked at his surroundings. Cold, hard stone everywhere, from the ground to the railings to the walls. What little decorations were left were colored drab shades of gray, black, and dark blue. Even the formerly green grass appeared to be bleached. The once cheerful and welcoming atmosphere had been completely erased by vacant loneliness.

"I still remember when there were flowers here he said, his small voi8ce echoing throughout the empty space.

Only the wind answered back.

"I still remember the trees with their colorful leaves. The picnics that me and my friends had. All of the smiles and laughter." He buried his face in his arms. "I miss it all. I miss it all so much." The young boy's eyes drifted up to the sky, the dark ominous, sorrowful sky.

_Maybe it is better with Master Hand up there…and Jeff…and Paula…_

* * *

The raindrops began a silent waltz with Ness's tears as the boy's eyes slipped closed.

"…s…?"

"…es...an…hear me…?"

"Ness, can you hear me?"

"…Uh?"

Ness slowly opened his eyes, squinting as he tried to focus his bleary vision. Before him stood a blurry pink figure.

"Er…Kirby?"

_No! _He mentally punched himself. Kirby couldn't' talk like that. _Peach? _No, unless she had shrunk about two feet in a matter of minutes. He also crossed out Nana and Amy before speaking again.

"Uh…who are you?"

The figure giggled. "Don't be silly, Ness!"

As she knelt down closer to him, her red bow and strawberry blond locks framing his view of her sweet, smiling face. She wore a knee-length pink dress and red Mary Janes.

_Well, my heart must've gotten tired from beating so fast 'cause it just stopped. _"P-Paula?" he sputtered.

"That's me!" Another smile. "Now that you're finally up, do you want a glass of water or someth-"

"NO!" Ness scrambled towards the wall behind him with his back to it. His breathing increased as his mind finally processed that yes, she was kneeling right in front of him, flesh and blood.

Paula looked at him. "Um…okay, no water then…what about something to eat?"

_Oh…my…god… _"you're supposed to be dead…"

The young girl looked taken aback. "Well, that's not very nice!"

_But if she died and went to heaven, then what am _I_ doing here?! _

Paula leaned toward him. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Before Ness had time to answer, she had placed her hand on his forehead.

_OH MY GOD! SHE'S TOUCHING ME! SHE CAN…wait, she can touch me?_

They stayed in silence for a few moments, until Ness reached up and grabbed her wrist.

"What is it now?"

"You…you're alive." Yep, she was definitely there.

"Well, yeah…"

_Oh man, I probably have to explain everything to her now! Judging by the way she's acting,. I don't think she remembers anything. Okay, where do I start?_

"Alright, Paula." Ness took a deep breath.

_Calmly, slowly, you don't want to scare her._

"Yes, Ness?"

"Okay, so there's this guy named Tabuu and you know him 'cause he's the ruler of Subspace and everything and I told you about that, right? Right. So anyway, he just, like, completely took over our mansion and turned it into some kind of home imprisonment and we were all kept in jail cells under lock and key. He stopped to catch his breath.

"Um, could you kinda slow down, please?"

"So one day, he called you and Peppy Hare and Samus for brawl on Brinstar, but it wasn't fair because Samus knew all the stupid tricks on that stage and you and Peppy lost. You were both rushed off to the 'emergency room' but the Tabuu guy actually killed you guys for your losses. Paula, I saw your freaking corpse earlier today, but you're here now, and alive, and that's why we need to get out of here!"

"Huh? Wait wait wait, what?"

"Arrrgh! There's this guy named Tabuu and he's the ruler of-"

"No! I got all that. It's, uh…mmh. Just listen to me, okay?"

Ness sat on his haunches and let out an agitated breath, but nodded.

"Okay, First of all, I'm not dead. Got it?"

The young boy nodded again.

"Good. Second, can you still remember where we are?"

"Um…"

Ness looked around. A fairly large room, with one bunk bed and two other twin beds. The room was separated unto segments with red, yellow, pink, and blue walls. All of the different segments showed off a unique theme.

He thought for a while, then came up with the most reasonable, level-headed answer ever.

"Candyland."

Honestly, he couldn't think of anything better.

Paula sighed but Ness noted that she was smiling slightly. "I guess I'll just have to take you outside then." She grabbed his arm and stood up, then led him through the door.

During the walk to who-knows-where, the Onnetian's mind wandered off again. _That room…I don't remember seeing it before but it seems so familiar._

"Paula, what was that room?" Ness finally gave up after a minute of intense thinking.

"You really don't remember?"

"Nope."

"Maybe this will help you."

They had arrived at the end of a hallway with two large marble doors. Each was about twenty feet high. Paula gripped one of the golden handles, and without hesitation swung the door inward.

Ness gasped. "No. Way."

Smiling and laughing, the lively courtyard was crowded with dozens and dozens of people. Included all of the dead Smashers.

"Ness!"

He turned toward the sound.

"Jeff?!"

Another boy, only appearing to be a little older than Ness, broke through the crowd of Smashers and ran to him. The perfectly trimmed bangs of his blond bowl haircut brushed his square glasses, which matched perfectly with his spick and span teal suit. Jeff clapped his friend on the shoulder with a large smile, before coming to his senses and formally shaking his hand instead.

_It was only a nightmare all along._

"Well, Ness, are you alright now?" he asked.

"Yeah, just a little… shaken."

"Oh Ness, it was only a dream!" Paula giggled. "Well a dream in which I was supposedly 'dead'."

Jeff gave him a perplexed look before saying, "Come on now, it's almost Lucas's turn to bob for apples…this we cannot miss."

All three of them laughed, before heading for the heart of the celebration.

* * *

It was about an hour and a half later when Master Hand pulled Ness aside.

"Time out!" the boy called to Kirby, halting the game of hide-and-seek. The puffball nodded and waved his stubs to signal.

"Man, this cake is amazing! I wonder who made it. Have you had some yet? Do you want some?" Ness chattered away to the giant hand as they walked to a quieter space away from the party.

"Thank you, but I will politely decline," Master Hand said. "As you can see…" He chuckled and wiggled his fingers.

"Oh. Right." Ness laughed. "So, what did you wanna talk to me for?"

The hand sighed. "Tabuu."

"Tabuu…?" Something shattered inside of Ness. "Is he, like, alive again or…something? I mean, do we have to go through another adventure?"

"Ness…"

"Yeah?"

"I think you know the answer to that perfectly well."

_No… _The red liquid from his soda spilled out over his hands as Ness crushed the cup in his fist. "It wasn't a dream, was it." His voice came out hard and forced.

Master Hand was silent.

"I'll have to go back now, won't I? Back to that sick, twisted place."

"Ness, look, I-"

_NESS!_

A voice rang in Ness's head. Master Hand seemed to have heard it too, as he looked around for the source. No one at the party seemed affected.

"Who was that?" The young boy asked.

"That was Lucas," Master Hand answered. "He's calling you."

"Lucas?" Ness turned around.

"No. Not that Lucas. I meant the Lucas from the real world."

Lucas yelled again, and Ness felt a strange tingling sensation. He glanced down at himself and gasped. His kin was flickering, like a light bulb going out of power.

"Oh…"

"Ness."

He looked at Master Hand, who was doing the same odd flickering as his own skin.

"You're waking up…you have to go back."

"Master Hand, I don't want to go back..please let me stay…just one more hour…"

"I can't."

Now the eges of his fingers were blurred, too.

"What will happen to Lucas? Ness, he needs you. You need him. You need each other for support. One can't go on without the other."

"But-"

"You _have_ to go back." Master Hand's voice was gentle but firm. "I wish you good luck in your brawl."

All that remained was a fading white blur against a gray background.

_NESS!_

"Master Hand, please!" Ness's eyes were filling with tears now, as he ran to where the white mass floated. "Please!" he could already feel everything slipping away. He closed his eyes. "Don't go!"

"Goodbye, Ness…"

"No!"

"Ness." Only a faint echo.

"Nothing you care for…_is ever lost._

"No!" Ness yelled again, bolting upright.

"Ah!" Lucas stumbled back, surprised. "Oh. You're awake!" Then he swallowed, hard. "It's time."

Ness froze for a second, then nodded numbly. He was only slightly aware of Lucas leading him through the door back into the mansion, since his mind didn't seem to be connected with his body. He still felt like he was in that dream.

That dream…

_Nothing you care for…_"is ever lost."


	4. No Turning Back Now

**Thank you to CreCra, AwesomeNess, Negai Liu, Kimyona Baka Deviyel, and sora238!**

**A/N: There are some people in this brawl that aren't in SSBB, they're other characters in different Smashers' games (not my OCs). I'll just put them here now:**

**Daisy: She is an alternate costume for Peach (yellow dress) but has shorter hair and green eyes. She is Luigi's "girlfriend" and princess of Sarasaland.**

**Toad: A small red mushroom person with arms and legs. He is a kind of servant to Peach.**

**Dark Link: The last alternate costume for Link (and my personal favorite). He is Link's shadow self and one of Ganondorf's creations.**

**Midna: (***SPOILER ALERT***) Princess of the Twilight Realm and Link's partner. As an imp, she aided Link in saving both of their worlds. She also can turn him into a wolf with a Twilight crystal formerly embedded in his head. Just look on Google for her appearance.**

**Krystal: A silver, female version of Fox with darker hair. Sorry, haven't played her game yet.**

**Roy: Kind of like an orange-haired version of Ike, but with Marth-like clothes and Pit's personality. Haven't played his game either…don't kill meee…*hides under table***

**Sirica: A girl with a short chibi body, long white hair, and large blue eyes. Her skin is also completely white, which is probably why her name relates to the word "silica". Her mother was a warrior who died fighting alongside Meta Knight.**

**Amy: A pink hedgehog with a short pink dress and red sneakers. Despite her appearance, she uses a giant hammer as a weapon. She also has a crush on Sonic.**

**Dr. Eggman: Google.**

**DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO NINTENDO/SEGA.**

In. Out. In. Out.

Sirica breathed deeply as she sat silently in her chair, closing her eyes. She was the first Smasher to arrive back in the room after the three hour time limit.

Well, not counting the one next to her.

"Sirica, do you want to talk?" Meta Knight asked her in his Mexican accent.

Sirica took another deep breath.

"Yes, I want to talk. I am so freaked out over this fricking stupid brawl. What if we all die? What will happen then? Because I don't want to lose you, you don't know how much I need you here and how much you mean to me. If you and Kirby and Dedede all disappear...what will become of me?" But she said it in her head so he couldn't hear her.

She ignored him instead.

"Sirica," he said again. "I must say that you are not the best at masking your emotions."

The girl groaned and buried her face in her hands. "I know."

Meta Knight laughed from underneath his mask. "Death is nothing to be afraid of," he said. "What will happen afterwards? Nothing. You won't feel anything, won't lose anything. Pain, torture, humiliation...that is what you should fear instead."

"No, Meta Knight...you're wrong," Sirica turned to face him. "What I'm wondering...what if it isn't you who's dying, what if it's someone else? Someone else that...that means the world to you. And then they're just gone, like that. Forever."

"Well, if you want to put it that way..." Meta Knight's eyes turned green*. "I think-no, I know-that that same person would want you to keep going. And the reason of their death would most likely be because they were trying to save you, and because they completely trust and believe in you. To win for them."

He stopped for a moment to let his words sink in.

"You know what I mean?"

Sirica nodded slowly. "Yes...yes. I understand."

She relaxed into her chair and they sat in a peaceful silence until the rest of the Smashers began to fill in. They disappeared shortly after, finding their friends and walking together to a metal plate on the floor. Sirica had only noticed it now, and by the way everyone vanished into thin air on contact she guessed it lead to the arena of the brawl.

She stood up and stretched, then turned to face the older knight. "So, you ready?"

"Are you not waiting for Kirby and the king?"

"Uhh..." _An endless black hole with arms and legs and a penguin with morbid obesity?_ "…Sure, why not."

"'Ey, you don't have to."

"Poyo!"

King Dedede walked over to them with Kirby perched comfortably on his head. The king gave them a thumbs up. "See, all 'head of schedule."

"Ah. No delay in the kitchen, then?" Meta Knight rose from his seat.

"Poyo!" Kirby exclaimed as Dedede lifted him off.

"Naw...we brought it with us. In here." The penguin pointed to the pink puffball.

Sirica rolled her blue eyes but smiled. If he wanted to, Kirby the adorable little puffball could eat her whole.

"Well then, c'mon, gang," Dedede waved them over, starting to make his way toward the plate.

_Already?  
_

"No, wait," Sirica's voice came out barely above a whisper. "Wait!" she said, loudly this time.

Her three friends turned around. "What is it, Sirica?" Meta Knight asked.

"Um, don't you think we should all go in together?" she suggested. "I mean, I think it would increase our chances of being on the same team." She gave a little shrug of her shoulders.

Of course. The teams. Tabuu sure knew lots of ways to rip someone in half.

"Not a bad idea. But 'ey," King Dedede turned toward her. "you ain't scared, are ya?"

Sirica opened her mouth then began to respond with a snappy retort, but Meta Knight quickly turned the king around and said, "I highly believe it is not you who should be asking, rather, you should be answering." He waved the whole group to the plate before Sirica could feel the urge to use her flamethrower.

"Ehhhh? Naw, it ain't me!" he looked at the kinght. "Who's the king here, pal? Don't talk back to the king!"

"You are, " Meta Knight answered. "I hope you will begin to act like one also," he added, under his breath.

"You're all done?" Sirica asked. "Okay. Let's go."

Three pairs of feet and one pair of flippers simultaneously stepped onto the plate and disappeared with a VVSSHH.

Everything around them turned white, until space and time were blank papers. Even the solid ground was like air. Sirica felt a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach, like a parade of marching, dancing feathers. And to her surprise, she laughed softly.

"Poyo!" Kirby's voice rang out from somewhere above her.

"Kirby?" Sirica glanced up, and saw a pink blob floating in the distance.

"Poyo." Farther now.

_How am I going to get up...oh, he's as good as gone_. The pink blob had turned into a pink dot, and when she blinked it faded into the whiteness.

Sirica sighed. The chances of all of them on her team had already sank down to sixty-six percent.

"King Dedede? Meta Knight?" Only the white walls answered back with her words.

_Oh, they're probably already waiting for me there. I know even Tabuu wouldn't put us all on different teams. I'll at least probably see Meta Knight.  
_

Solid ground beneath her feet broke her from her thoughts. Bushes, trees, and a blue sky chased away the blank scene as the sound of a flowing river filled her ears. She thought she heard an animal shriek and the sound of an arrow whizzing through the air, but when she turned a high wall of land blocked her view.

It had also probably just saved her life.

_Great, _she thought. _Only my first couple seconds in this place and I've almost been served fresh brain-kebob. Next time I probably won't be so lucky. _

"Hey, haven't seen you around in a while. It's about time you got some fresh air."

She whipped around, ponytail flying, and came face-to-face-or rather, face-to-snout-with Wolf.

"Whoa!" He held up his hands as the barrel of Sirica's machine gun was pointed at his face. "Fast reflexes you got there…good thing we're teammates, right?"

She felt the tip of the gun sinking to the ground. "_You're_ my teammate?"

"Yeah, seeing that we've clearly appeared in the same place in this arena."

_And I almost shot him. _"Lucky thing you've just got a fast _mouth, _huh? Or else it would have been a fast death."

"Ah, a sense of humor," Wolf said. He glanced behind her. "Oh look, here comes Samus."

The galactic bounty hunter joined them, and shortly after Snake and Captain Falcon.

"Is that all?" Samus asked. Sirica couldn't tell if she sounded disappointed or pleased. She guessed the latter, since Snake was here after all. Same for him too.

"Well… it's been about five minutes since I got here, so probably…yeah," Captain Falcon said.

They all glanced up at the sky as a deep voice rang out. "THREE…TWO…ONE…GO!"

"Alright then," Snake pulled a grenade from his belt. "Let's get this party started."

*deep in thought

**So, we got one team figured out.**

**Team A: Samus, Captain Falcon, Snake, Wolf, Sirica**

**I'll list all of the teams at the top (beginning next chapter) as they are revealed. You'll find out most of them next chapter. **


	5. By A Hair's Breadth

**Thank you to CreCra, Kimyona Baka Deviyel, AwesomeNess, InfernoAwesome, **

**Team A: ?**

**Team B: Samus, Captain Falcon, Snake, Wolf, Sirica**

**Team C: ?**

**Team D: ?**

**Team E: ?**

**Team F: ?**

**Alive: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Bowser, Toad, Wario, Link, Zelda, Sheik, Dark Link, Ganondorf, Midna, Samus, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Krystal, Pit, Nana, Popo, Marth, Ike, Roy, Snake, Ness, Lucas, Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, Sirica, Captain Falcon, Sonic, Amy, Dr. Eggman**

**Claimed dead: **

**DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO NINTENDO/SEGA. **

It was a tiny sound at first, but still a sound. And there were more of them, growing closer and closer.

Link's shoes scuffed against the faded stone as be came to a stop. "Guys...so you hear something?" He turned around to look at the landscape. Everything seemed perfectly fine.

The rest of his team stopped and turned in the same direction.

"No," Ike said. Everyone else also shook their heads.

"Maybe your elf ears can hear something that our ears can't," Marth suggested. "You know, with you being Hylian and everything?"

"Good point," Roy agreed.

Dark denied this. "I don't hear anything wrong here."

"Hm..." Link cocked his head. "No. I still–"

"Oh. I see," Meta Knight's golden sword flashed in the sunlight as he pointed it toward the other end of the bridge.

"What, is the bridge making the noises?" Roy asked, scratching his head. Then he squinted and shaded his eyes. "Wait...is that...a pig?"

A hulking figure was lumbering toward the group of six, quickly gaining speed as it went. The bridge trembled beneath their feet like a small earthquake had hit.

"I think 'boar' would be a more fitting term," Marth raised his voice above the noise.

"How about bacon?"

"Um, I don't...oh!" The Altean prince glanced toward the charging animal, then grabbed the collar of Roy's cape and began dragging him toward the right side of the bridge.

"What are you doing?!" Ike yelled.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Marth, sacrificing Roy to the lake below the bridge is not going to stop us from becoming pancakes," Link said.

"And can't we just jump over him?" Dark asked.

Marth gave them a withering look. "Doesn't it occur to you that we'll need a trampoline or something for that? No, what I'm thinking is leading him over to here when he's running at us, then jumping to the side and dodging it."

"Are you insane? This–thing–is, like, bigger than all of us standing shoulder to shoulder."

"Do you have any other plan in that brilliant mind of yours?"

Dark walked over to his position.

"Okay," Marth was nearly shouting now. "Three."

They could make out a giant goblin-like figure riding on top of the boar.

"Two."

Everyone crouched (except for Meta Knight) and prepared to jump.

"One."

"Marth, I swear, if this doesn't work–" Ike started.

"Jump!"

Six swordsmen leaped to the side as the giant animal thundered past. Roy gave a cry of pain as the edge of he boar's armor scraped his shin, but he still managed to execute a perfect roll.

The goblin rider grunted loudly. He screeched as he pulled on the brown leather reins of his boar, but the momentum kept pulling on its short legs.

They careened over the edge of the bridge, plummeting into the darkness below.

For a second no one moved.

Then Marth sighed. "Well...I didn't mean for that to happen..." He got up walked over to the other side, arms crossed. Another sigh escaped his mouth as

"No," Meta Knight said. "You didn't."

"I know...and–"

"And that was why it was an excellent plan."

"There's water down there anyway," Link offered. "He'll be alright."

"How would you know?" Marth looked at him.

"Oh, I'm sure he'll get used to it after the third time." Link's eyes caught Dark's and they shared a knowing smirk. Ike and Meta Knight each managed a small laugh at the exchange.

Marth raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off. You never knew with those two.

He turned his attention to Roy instead. His friend was kneeling on the ground and clutching at the place where the armor had damaged his leg. The brown boots he wore were completely slashed through, revealing the gory mess underneath.

"Oh, God," Marth murmured. He quickly rushed back over.

"I'm okay," Roy said, even though he winced when Marth touched the injury. "I'll live. It's only a flesh wound."

"Yeah, but…do you think you can walk?" Link asked.

Roy slowly rose to his feet and stumbled forward a few steps. Dark caught him before he could fall over again.

"No," he said, finally. "I can barely take any weight on this leg. I think I would pass out after a mile."

"Hmm," Meta Knight looked at each of his teammates in turn. His eyes finally settled on Ike.

"Uhh…yes?"

He pointed a gloved hand at the top of the mercenary's head. "Do you absolutely need that, or may we use it for now?"

"What, you want to borrow my hair?" Ike asked. "Sure you can. Just return it when you're done," he added sarcastically.

"Your...what? Oh, no. Not that. I meant your bandana."

"Oh! Well, why didn't you say so?" Ike removed it and handed it to Meta Knight.

"I tried to..." the latter muttered. He handed the piece of fabric to Marth. "Here. Tie this around his leg."

Marth obliged.

"Smart. I didn't even think of that," Link commented, as they watched Roy walk with more obvious ease.

"Okay, are you done?" Dark was waving them on with an impatient expression on his face. "Come on!"

"Well, well, well. Looks like the king of evil truly does have a soft spot for his former adversary." Bowser looked over his shoulder at Ganondorf. "Why didn't you just go and kill them directly?"

"Bowser," Ganondorf's words came out in a snarl. "You know perfectly well why. It would be like you walking up to Mario, waving hello, and running him through with a blade."

"Wah! You're just the whiny one 'cause we used one of your shell spikes." Wario poked the shortened spike with its tip cut off.

Dr. Eggman had actually proved to be an accurate shot, and had thrown the end of Bowser's shell spike right at the giant boar. It drove him wild and caused him to charge at the team unlucky enough to be at the other end of the bridge.

We wouldn't be guilty, Ganondorf thought, because we're not killing them directly. Was it just him, or was he actually...glad they dodged it?

He took a deep breath and shook his head to clear the thoughts. _No, I must be going crazy._

"Gang?" Dedede spoke up. He was looking away from them rest of them and at a point in the distance. "I think that's a 'nother team..."

Everyone's eyes followed his finger.

_Now I'm really going crazy. _

"Red and green? That's got to be the Mario Bros," Bowser said. "And that little blue thing might be either Popo or Sonic."

"That's Sonic," Dr. Eggman confirmed. "Popo can't run at speeds topping 10 miles per hour, let alone 60."

"And then the three others..." Ganondorf squinted.

"That one's the angel. What's 'is name?" Dedede muttered. "Oh yeah. Pit. That's gotta be 'im. No one else got feathers outta their back."

"Eh? And who's that?" Wario pointed at the remaining two members.

The rapid-fire lasers aimed directly at his face answered the question.

"Darn it, Starfox."


	6. What Comes Around, Goes Around

**Thank you to Kimyona Baka Deviyel, AwesomeNess, and CreCra!**

**Team A: Mario, Luigi, Fox, Falco, Pit, Sonic**

**Team B: Samus, Captain Falcon, Snake, Wolf, Sirica**

**Team C: ?**

**Team D: Marth, Ike, Roy, Link, Dark Link, Meta Knight**

**Team E: ?**

**Team F: Bowser, Ganondorf, Wario, King Dedede, Dr. Eggman**

**Alive: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Bowser, Toad, Wario, Link, Zelda, Sheik, Dark Link, Ganondorf, Midna, Samus, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Krystal, Pit, Nana, Popo, Marth, Ike, Roy, Snake, Ness, Lucas, Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, Sirica, Captain Falcon, Sonic, Amy, Dr. Eggman**

**Claimed dead: **

**DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO NINTENDO/SEGA.**

* * *

"Yep, that's a person all right," Falco lowered his gun.

Pit rolled his eyes. "I tried to tell you that, but now your so-called 'wall' might be hatching a plan to burn us alive."

"It wasn't my fault!" Falco raised his hands in a sign of surrender. "I swear, that whole group of them looks like a giant roadblock or something. Bowser, Ganondorf..."

"Yeah, but you didn't have to shoot them. You coulda just gone up and looked."

"Now what-a do we-a do?" Mario stroked his mustache and turned his blue eyes toward the angel.

Pit opened his mouth to answer, but he was instantly interrupted by another voice.

"Who died and made you leader?" Fox turned toward Pit, then back at Mario. "I say we fight. I mean, if they attack us first." He shrugged. "If they don't attack us first...then...um..."

"I-a say we make-a peace-a deal," Luigi suggested.

Everyone looked at him.

The green plumber gulped. "Well, if you-a don't want-a to–"

"I think that's an excellent idea!" Pit found himself saying.

Now everyone's eyes were averted toward him.

"What?" he asked. "It's true. Maybe..." _Maybe what? You'll magically stop this whole brawl just by_ _getting one team on your side? There are still four others. You crazy kid._ "...maybe there's still time to save everyone."

"Save?" Sonic asked. "Explain?"

Pit suddenly found the leather straps of his shoes extremely interesting. "Um..."

_Seriously. You've been thinking about this since the beginning of time. _

"Well, I have this idea..."

_It's not going to work._

"...it might work..."

_What are you thinking? Everyone in this brawl might not agree and side with you, you know. Just because of this one deal._

"...and I was thinking that we could get everyone to agree and side with us to, you know, stop everything. Starting with this one deal."

_I hate you, kid._

_I love you too._ Lady Palutena, that voice inside his head...it was like a whole other person.

"It-a doesn't sound-a half-a bad," Mario commented, bringing Pit back to earth.

Fox and Falco shrugged. "It's alright, as long as I don't get nailed in the brain," Falco said.

"Fine by me," Sonic agreed. "Let's go give it a shot!"

"Wait, wait, wait..." Fox's gloved hand grabbed Sonic by the shoulder before he could begin his sprint. "I don't think we have to go to them..."

"Because they're-a already coming for-a us," Luigi cried.

Pit scanned the green terrain for the other team of Smashers. Sure enough, they were barreling toward his own team with leaping steps. He gripped the handle on his bow tighter and signaled to the others.

"Guys, get your guns ready. We might need them this time."

* * *

Ggggggrrrrrrrllll. Lucas clutched at his stomach as it growled like an angry animal. "Guys..." he groaned. "I think I'm going to die."

Walking next to him, Kirby sighed and plopped down on the ground. He rolled over with his face in the dirt and began squeaking incoherently.

Nana sighed. This had been going on for about half an hour now, since they had all entered the arena. Half of their team hadn't eaten since yesterday, and now the hunger was taking its toll.

Toad had already passed out and was being carried by a quickly weakening Popo. Lucas's stomach had been louder than him. Ness was completely unresponsive for the whole walk. And Kirby? She had been relying on him to keep them going (he had been the only one to eat beforehand) but now he had just about given up.

The Ice Climber let out another breath of air. Of course, she didn't blame them. She honestly wanted to just lie down next to Kirby and beg the sky for food.

They were getting pretty desperate.

She sat down on a nearby rock and cursed herself for not thinking. Why, just why didn't you eat? It was such a simple thing...

Nana's mouth began to water as she thought of the food back at the mansion. She could almost taste the crisp, flaky buttered bread and feel the sweet juice of the fruits on her tongue. Fresh salad leaves would crunch in her mouth as the scent of tender roasting meat filled her nose.

_Tender roasting meat...filling my nose..._

Her head whipped to the side. "I must be dreaming," she murmured. "It can't be..." Her voice trailed off.

Popo had noticed his sister looking. "What is it, sis?" He also turned to the general direction.

Without a word, she pointed a gloved hand at the blue sky.

"Um, yeah..." Popo said, scratching his head in confusion. "It is pretty, isn't it? Not a single cloud–"

Nana facepalmed. "No, you doofus! There, look closely!"

The boy squinted into the sun. "The bird?"

"No!"

"The tree?"

"No, right next to it!"

"Oh! The hill."

"Ugggh! Right between those two!"

"My god! I don't see anything but–is that smoke?"

"Yes!" Nana relaxed a little. "And where there's smoke..."

"There's...fire! And when there's fire...?"

"There's cooking. And when there's cooking..."

Nana watched her brother's eyes take up half of his face. "There's FOOD!"

The ground made scratching noises under their feet as Lucas and Kirby perked up. Toad finally raised his head and said, "food?" Even Ness looked over his shoulder, interested.

Nana smiled. Now we got it, she thought.

"Alright guys," she said, waving for them to huddle closer. "C'mere. This is the plan..."

* * *

_Shut up!_ Nana silently aimed her words at the tree she was perched in. _Stupid leaves...why don't you just go and broadcast my every movement to the people standing below us?! You might as well be_ _already._ They seemed to scream out loud if she so much as shifted her weight.

For the moment, she was staring down at another team of Smashers, all female. But she was only focusing on a certain pink princess. Peach was sitting on the ground and chewing a chicken leg, opposite of her tree.

_Darn it. Bringing food into the arena...why didn't I think of that? _

All she had to do was jump down, run up to her, snatch the food, and disappear.

But it had to be perfect, because it was to be done simultaneously with five other people. One mistake could screw it all up.

Her eyes wandered impatiently as she waited for Toad to signal with the distraction. He had a pretty important part in this.

There!

In the distance, a series of explosions were set off successively in no apparent pattern. The resulting flames raced one another up the trees as they burned away the wood. Tree after tree was knocked down in a domino effect.

_What the...that wasn't the cue we decided on! It was supposed to be a flock of birds..._

"NANA! RUN!" Somewhere to her left, she heard Popo's voice bursting out of the mess of leaves. Clawing wildly, she tried to find her way out of the tree.

Too late. Her tree seemed to slip from her grip as she was thrown directly toward the ground. A scream pierced the air, in a cry of "HELP ME!" It didn't take Nana too long to realize that the scream was coming from her own mouth.

_So this is how it's gonna end?_ The ground was reaching up to meet her. _With my murder from a tree_ _fall?_ She closed her eyes and waited for the hit.

Did the ground have arms? Was it possible that they had just reached up and miraculously caught her?

No.

It was none other than Krystal, with an assuring whisper of "I got you." More words formed in her mouth as she carried Nana away from the scene, but the girl paid no attention to them whatsoever.

All she cared about was that this person she barely knew had just saved her life.

Nana buried her face in Krystal's shoulder and wrapped her arms around her neck. Shock had completely stolen the young girl's ability to speak. Instead, she listened to the rhythmic sound of Krystal's footsteps against the ground and the distant crackling of the flames.

After a few moments, Krystal asked, "Is that your team over there?" Nana gave a nod as she spotted her brother's familiar blue parka, standing near two other members of Krystal's team.

_It's that Twili girl...Midna, I think her name was?_ Nana thought. _And the other girl is Peach's friend,_ _Daisy._ She also remembered the pink hedgehog, Amy, and the kindhearted girl tending to Kirby's injury, Zelda.

Krystal slowed as they neared the two teams, and set her down next to Ness. He gave a small nod in greeting. "You okay?"

"Yes. You?"

"Yeah. Can't say the same for Kirby, though."

"Mmm. How bad is it?" Nana glanced toward the pink puffball.

Ness shrugged . "Can't say. He fell from the tree, then scratched himself on the bark. But he's got Zelda and he magic, so I'll bet he's fine."

They watched Zelda stop her healing and walk over to Krystal. The two girls glanced over at Nana's team a couple times, setting the Ice Climber on edge. Finally, Krystal called for all of her opponents to gather near a tree unaffected by the explosions.

"So, guys, we've come to the agreement that the person who set off the bombs would most likely be Snake or Samus," she started. "And they're both on the same team, according to Zelda." She paced back and forth on the tanned dirt of the forest. "Now. What I suggested was that we–meaning both of our teams–go show them that you don't just go and decide to blow up people for fun. Are you in?"

Nana looked at the other members of her team. Hunger was currently their biggest problem. Or tree burn, in Kirby's case. But she decided that they could probably keep going after a small snack.

Krystal seemed to have read their minds, as she smiled and nodded. "I'll take that as a yes. But–" The smile dropped and was replaced by a not-so-friendly scowl. She barely had time to react before Nana found she was staring into the barrel of Krystal's gun. "–it looks like you're going to die."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Lucas and Toad begin to rise unsteadily to their feet.

_No! She's probably going to shoot you too!_ Nana started to scoot backward, away from the range of the weapon.

"Of hunger."

"What?" The parka-clad girl took another look at Krystal, and saw the sparkle of amusement in her eyes.

"It looks like you're going to die of hunger." Krystal laughed at the baffled looks on their faces as she holstered her gun. "C'mon, let's go get you something to eat."

* * *

"Well. That didn't go as expected, did it?" Sonic looked at the flowing lava as it reflected red light on his blue fur. It was slowly eating away at the green field, and the flow from the ravine didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

"Oh, sorry," Pit glared down at the hedgehog and crossed his arms. "Do you expect me to become a future-seeing weatherman? Ladies and gentlemen, today's forecast will be slightly cloudy with a 100% chance of grenades spawning right above your head. And the resulting hole will spew an extremely minor lava flood. Nothing to worry about." Someone is-a Mr. Optimistic-a today," Mario commented, looking up at Pit.

The angel let out a huff of breath. "I was so close..."

"...but yet so far. Tsk tsk," Falco finished, shaking his head in mock disappointment.

_That's the last straw,_ Pit thought, and he flew up twelve branches away from the others. Fox yelled something after him but he ignored it and kept going.

_It was a good plan_, Pit thought. _But it was also a failed one. It wasn't my fault, though. _

He was right. The bombs had come down so quickly, so unexpected. The other team was just about to agree when BOOM! _That has got to be some world record for bad timing._ They had torn a small ravine into the ground, right in the middle of both teams. Wario, Luigi, and Dr. Eggman had barely made it in time before the lava flow began.

_Stupid lava, stupid bombs, stupid idiot who set them off!_ Pit raged inwardly. _God I'm gonna kill whoever did that. Even if I was trying to save them in the first place. _

"Pit!"

The angel looked to the side as an out-of-breath Fox flopped down on the branch next to him.

"Why'd you have to fly up so high?" he wheezed. "Anyway, while you were up here sulking, we found out who set off the bombs."

"Who?"

"Um, wait..."

"Fox, who was it?"

"...pay me."

Pit groaned and stood up. He spread his wings with a fssshh and got ready for twelve more branches.

"Hey! Okay, okay!" Fox grabbed his foot to keep him from ascending. "It was Snake."

"Snake?" Pit couldn't tell if Fox was lying or not. "How would you know? There's also Samus...and Link...and Krystal..."

"Oh, come on. Do any of them sound like they would so that?"

"Well, you're only saying that because of Krystal..."

Fox glared at him.

"...but I trust your judgement."

"Woo! So, you wanna go and, like, blow him up too?"

Pit grinned. "Well, we can thank him with a new set of bombs. Already lit, for his convenience."


	7. Murder is no Accident

**Thank you to CreCra, Psychic Karate, YiazmatXII, and ScarRhyn!**

**Team A: Mario, Luigi, Fox, Falco, Pit, Sonic**

**Team B: Samus, Captain Falcon, Snake, Wolf, Sirica**

**Team C: Ness, Lucas, Nana, Popo, Kirby, Toad **

**Team D: Marth, Ike, Roy, Link, Dark Link, Meta Knight**

**Team E: Peach, Daisy, Zelda/Sheik, Midna, Amy, Krystal**

**Team F: Bowser, Ganondorf, Wario, King Dedede, Dr. Eggman**

**Alive: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Bowser, Toad, Wario, Link, Zelda, Sheik, Dark Link, Ganondorf, Midna, Samus, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Krystal, Pit, Nana, Popo, Marth, Ike, Roy, Snake, Ness, Lucas, Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, Sirica, Captain Falcon, Sonic, Amy, Dr. Eggman**

**Claimed dead: **

**DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO NINTENDO/SEGA.**

* * *

"AHHHHHH!" Snake plunged face first into a clump of green bushes as another explosion sent him flying through the air. Twigs and branches clawed at his face, opening new cuts. He groaned, then rolled onto his stomach and began to crawl out. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sirica being thrown into a tree as she slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Damn." Snake swore under his breath. He raised his head and looked around to check if the coast was clear, then made a run for it.

"THERE HE IS! THERE HE IS!"

"Shoot!"

_Ah, crap._

Fox, Falco, and Krystal suddenly burst out of the flaming undergrowth and opened fire on him. The bounty hunter ducked and jumped in a dance of survival until another explosion from above flung all four of them in different directions.

**Crack.**

_That's gotta be the spine,_ Snake thought, wincing as his back smashed against a tree and arched in pain.

Out of the smoke, Falco's threat rang out. "God! Watch it, Pit, if you want to keep your wing feathers!"

_Pit. So that's who started this ambush._

Breathing hard, Snake grabbed a small handgun from his belt and aimed it at the sky. He looked for points of white in the suffocating gray, the angel's wings.

"Sorry!" There! Somewhere to the north.

His sweat-soaked finger clicked the trigger on his gun repeatedly in the direction of Pit's voice.

_Did I hit him?_

He ceased shooting and squinted up towards the sky, letting the tip of the gun sink to the ground.

Big mistake.

"Gotcha!" The sole of Pit's sandal collided with Snake's face as the angel came down on him from above. Snake crashed to the ground, blood gushing from his nose as Pit rocketed skyward again.

"You–you little–" the bounty hunter's speech was limited with his hand over his nose, trying to stanch the flow. The angel laughed at his attempts at shooting as the bullets whizzed harmlessly past him into the trees.

"Homing devices don't cost that much, you know. You could buy one for yourself."

Pit dove at him again, but Snake was too exhausted from running since the beginning and still recovering from having his face used as a launchpad.

This time, his opponent had him pinned to the ground with one foot while standing with the other. A blue arrow knocked his only available weapon out of his hand. Snake watched helplessly as it was blown to pieces against a nearby boulder.

Pit loaded another arrow, but this time it was pointed at Snake's face.

"Explanation. Now."

"What?"

Snake struggled to get up, but Pit stepped down even harder on his rib cage.

"What do you mean 'what'?"

Snake could hear the humming of the enchanted arrow as it was shoved toward his face.

"You go and decide to attack not one, not two, not even three but four teams and all you have left is to play dumb?"

"Pit, what part of 'I have no idea what you're talking about' do you not understand?" the bounty hunter growled. Confusion still outweighed impatience. "I think I'm the one who deserves an explanation. You guys are the ones who attacked us first."

A angry glare was fired out of the angel's blue eyes. "Snake. Do you even know what you've done?"

"Yeah. I appeared in the arena, then walked around for an hour or so. Ignored explosions in the distance. Then I got ambushed."

"Liar."

Snake noticed something else flicker in Pit's eyes, something other than anger and suspicion. Hesitation? Mercy? It hit him like a bullet train.

_He doesn't want to shoot me. Of course. I can get out of this...somehow..._

"Fine. If you still think I'm the one who did it. Shoot me. Go ahead." Snake dropped his arms to the side, trying to make Pit think of it as a sign of surrender. An idea was forming in his head.

The angel blinked. His steady gaze seemed to falter. "What? No, I...I have to find out why you did it."

_Well, why would he shoot me? He is an angel..._

He moved his fingers around in the bush his right hand had fallen into. _Come on, come on..._ Snake's fingers grazed the edge of the metal. There we go.

"Why? That information is classified."

"You're joking." Pit put more weight on his foot, cutting off almost all of Snake's breathing.

"No, I'm not," Snake replied with a bit of difficulty. "But I will tell you one thing–one thing only."

Pit leaned in slightly. "What?"

"See you."

With a grunt, Snake gripped the handle of Sirica's weapon and brought it down on Pit's head. The angel let out a cry of pain and accidentally let go of the arrow to feel his injury.

"Gh!" The projectile stabbed Snake's arm as he put it up to save his head from being impaled.

His initial attack had sent Pit reeling. The bounty hunter used this precious time to escape. He leaned forward on his knees, then turned around and ran.

"Snaaaake!"

Samus appeared in the smoking gray space in front of him, the flames' light bouncing off of her orange armor. She ran up to him and put her hands on his shoulders.

Then she slapped him, hard.

"Where the hell were you?" She yelled.

Snake put a hand to his cheek and staggered backwards a few steps. "Wha..." The earlier bruise flared up again.

"Those kids nearly deactivated my power suit, Sirica and Captain Falcon are unconscious, and Wolf's weapons can't even be called weapons anymore. And here you are, back from taking a stroll in the forest!" She sighed. "It's just great. Come on."

"Hey," Snake said defensively. "At least I found out who started this whole thing. It was Pit."

"Pit?" They started back to the main scene of the brawl. "Why?"

"Apparently all four of these teams were bombarded with explosives. We're the only ones on the other teams not attacked with explosives on us. So, then, the obvious." Snake pulled a blunt club out of his belt. "Who's on the other side?"

"Wait, wait, wait. If it wasn't us, who was it then?" Samus readied her blaster.

He shrugged. "Fox, Falco, and Krystal. That's everyone else."

"Mm...okay." Samus gestured for him to stop, then kneeled behind a large rock. "Wolf is out there, fighting on his own. We jump in from this side, and push our way to him. Use that thing if you have to." She pointed to his club. "After that, back-to-back fighting. Try to move over to the tree where Sirica and Captain Falcon are so we can cover for them. But–no killing. Just drive them out of here."

Snake gave a quick nod, then pushed through the trees and bushes.

Almost immediately, his whole body was coated in sweat. The heat from the flames was unbearable. That, mixed in with the metallic smell of blood pervading the air was something you didn't really want to smell every day. But this was no time to think about the different scents of the world.

Ganondorf tried to bar his path, but Snake jammed the end of the club into his stomach. The force of the blow knocked him into Ness, and they toppled on top of poor Kirby.

He kept running, following the sound of Samus's and Wolf's blasters.

"Glad you could make it," Wolf roughly shoved Mario and Luigi into a tree and turned around to look at Snake.

The three of them proceeded to move towards Sirica's and Captain Falcon's bodies, protecting them from the swinging fists and magical attacks.

Snake attacked, blocked, and spun with his heavy club, every move draining strength from his limbs and making them feel like lead. Several bruises on his face throbbed like living creatures, marks of his failed attempts to prevent them.

Finally, a low blow from Sonic made his knees give way and he fell to the ground. A thousand people seemed to step on him all at once as they tried to close in on Wolf and Samus.

"Snake? Snake! Snaaake! What the heck, get up!" Samus cried, her voice urgent. She stepped over to him and knocked several people back with a whip-like form of energy.

She tried to haul him to his feet, but her exhausted legs and his dead weight brought them to the ground.

"Ah!" The grass made a crackling noise as the two fell. They lay there helplessly, Snake unable to get up and Samus unable to push him off.

"Guys! Really?!" Wolf yelled. He narrowly blocked an overhead strike from Nana. "What am I supposed to do?!" He looked back at them.

Grunting, Samus looked around, then raised her hand and pointed a finger at a tree. She swept it down and pointed it at the ground beneath everyone else.

Snake quickly understood what she meant to do. The tree Samus had pointed at was scorched near the bottom, and almost ready to fall down. All Wolf had to do was finish the job and chase away everyone else.

The only standing member of their team broke through the throng of people and made a beeline for the tree. His claws caught the sun's rays for a second, making them look like they were infused with fire.

Wolf leapt through the air, did a flip, then slashed his hands through the trunk of the tree.

CRRRRRK.

Time stopped. Well, not really, but it seemed that way to Snake as he watched everyone freeze on their feet. All movement was completely gone and all of the shouts were sucked from the air. Everyone's attention was on the loud noise coming from the tree.

And all of a sudden, they were back. People were screaming and running everywhere, as if the moment of silence had never happened. The realization of what was about to happen dawned on them. They abandoned their weapons and escaped from the scene.

Samus have Wolf a thumbs-up as he came back to them. He helped them to their feet and they dusted themselves off.

"There we go," Samus said above the din. "I guess we're good for now. I mean, they might come after us again, but at least there was no kill–" She stopped and paled. Her eyes widened as she looked behind Snake's shoulder.

"What?" He turned. His own eyes mimicked Samus's.

On the burned grass, the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom knelt on the ground. She seemed to be tugging at something, but they couldn't see what. The shadow of the tree grew darker and darker.

"We have to save her! Peach!" Snake said.

"No!" Samus grabbed his shoulder and looked him in the eye. "You're going to get killed. Peach, she's..." She turned away but didn't leave.

Horrified, Snake could do nothing but watch.

Watch as Peach tried to free the hem of her dress from a stray root.

Watch as she pulled and pulled with no avail.

Watch the leaves make way as Toad suddenly broke into the clearing.

Watch as he shoved Peach to the side, ripping her dress from the root and freeing her.

Watch the look on Peach's face as she glanced back at him, her arms outstretched to try and save him.

Watch as the tree fell through the air and crushed him under its weight.

Watch him disappear forever.

Snake sank to the ground. Nausea overtook him, clouding his head over. He looked at his hand and found it was shaking uncontrollably.

_What just happened...no...way...it was fine until...until..._

Behind him, the leaves rustled as Sirica and Captain Falcon sat up and finally regained consciousness. Wolf said something to him, but it was blocked out by his hands over his ears.

They blocked out other voices, but they couldn't stop inner ones. They rang inside his head, jeering and poking at him.

_Murder. Murder. Murder._

* * *

**A/N: suffering from extreme case of writer's block. GAH. I need help, can you guys choose which character I'll focus on for the next chapter? It can't be anyone I've so far (Ness, Sirica, Pit, or Snake) or, the obvious, Toad. Anyone else is fine, though. Thanks!**


	8. Sinking Deeper

**Thank you to Psychic Karate, CreCra, nameisunimportant, and SakuraDreamerz! **

**Team A: Mario, Luigi, Fox, Falco, Pit, Sonic**

**Team B: Samus, Captain Falcon, Snake, Wolf, Sirica**

**Team C: Ness, Lucas, Nana, Popo, Kirby**

**Team D: Marth, Ike, Roy, Link, Dark Link, Meta Knight**

**Team E: Peach, Daisy, Zelda/Sheik, Midna, Amy, Krystal**

**Team F: Bowser, Ganondorf, Wario, King Dedede, Dr. Eggman**

**Alive: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Bowser, Wario, Link, Zelda, Sheik, Dark Link, Ganondorf, Midna, Samus, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Krystal, Pit, Nana, Popo, Marth, Ike, Roy, Snake, Ness, Lucas, Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, Sirica, Captain Falcon, Sonic, Amy, Dr. Eggman**

**Claimed dead: Toad**

**A/N: Last chapter–Snake was not the one who set off the bombs on the other teams. It was Tabuu, he can interrupt the brawl at any time. Don't forget, this takes place in Subspace. **

**DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO NINTENDO/SEGA.**

* * *

_That's it. I can't take this anymore. _

Marth put a hand to his temple and leaned his elbow on his knee. He glanced up at his teammates and sighed.

"Would you two please chew with your mouths closed?"

Sitting on the ground across from him, Ike stopped mid-bite in his roasted squirrel meat. A single, thin white bone hung from his teeth. He looked to his left at Link, who in turn looked back at him.

Then they turned toward Marth...and guffawed in such an exaggerated way that bits of meat came flying out of their mouths.

The Altean prince slid his hand to his forehead. _That's disgusting. _He was glad for the fire that shielded him from the chewed up food. But he gave a small smile in spite of himself.

"Was that a smile? Was that a smile?! Oh, yes it was!" Ike grinned and Link laughed even harder at his baby voice impression.

Marth raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

"Oh, come on Marth!" Link scooted around the fire and sat next to him. "Lighten up. They'll turn up sooner or later."

"I hope so." Marth absentmindedly picked at his food and sighed again.

A little while after the accident with the giant boar, their team had decided to split up. Marth, Ike, and Link went one way while Roy, Meta Knight and Dark went the other. At one point, they had heard several explosions–right around in the area that the other tree had been. Then even more a little over to the east.

When they got there, both ways were impassable because of lava and fallen trees. Now how could they find out what happened to the other half of their team? The possibilities hung over Marth like a black cloud.

"Should we start looking for them again?" Ike asked. He finished his piece of squirrel and was now licking his fingers clean.

"Yeah." Link rose to his feet and stretched. "I say we start...over there." He pointed the tip of his sword at a dark forest.

"Seriously? You start with the evil forest? Why not the path, or even the lakeside?" Ike asked.

"Okay, whatever...as long as we find them I don't care," Marth said. He stood and fed his uneaten food to the flames.

The mercenary threw up his hands. "Ah, fine."

The trio began walking toward the forest, their boots making the dry grass' crunching break the silence. Somewhere in the distance, an owl let out a melancholic hoot.

"That is one sad animal," Ike commented from in from of him. He swung Link's lantern around, illuminating patches of the shadows.

Marth ducked under a low branch. He ran to catch up with Ike's bobbing light. As he passed another tree, a hand grabbed his shoulder and he jumped. He realized who it was and a curse escaped his mouth.

"Link," he said. "For the love of God, don't do that."

"Don't do what? Breathe?" Link's voice came from the front.

_The heck?_

He stopped in his tracks, his heart beginning to speed up. Sharp nails–claws?–were digging into his blue tunic. Another clawed hand gripped his hair.

"Ike–!" the hands spun him around into total darkness. Sweat collected on the palms of his hands.

"Marth?" He heard Ike's and Link's footsteps come to a stop and head in his direction.

Two glowing red eyes appeared in the night. A mouth opened, and Marth was so close he could see the pointy fangs ready to–

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Marth screamed as a high-pitched screeching noise came from the thing's mouth. The hands released him and he fell back onto the dried leaves, his heart ready to pound out of his chest. Hands shaking, he drew his sword out of its sheath.

"Ah! M-mercy! MERCY!"

He scooted backwards on the ground until he hit a tree. Then the tree moved.

"OHMIGOD WHAT IS IT WITH THIS–"

"Marth! Chill, man!" Now the tree was talking. Marth looked up. Ike was standing over him.

_Oh thank God you're not a tree._

"Are you okay? We heard a scream, and..." His voice trailed off.

Wordlessly, Marth pointed at the creature. Its creepy eyes were still staring at him.

"What is that?" Link asked, gaping. "Or rather...who?" He took his lantern from Ike and started walking toward the tree. Light shone on the spot where the creature was. The red eyes and fangs weren't floating in midair, but connected to a face, a human face. Silver hair, long ears, possibly a winged sword handle, a black hat and tunic...

"DARK! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Marth yelled. But relief flooded his body.

Their teammate was hanging by his knees down from a branch, his laughter filling the air. He was joined by Roy and Meta Knight, who stepped out from behind the tree's trunk.

"Man!" Roy hooted. "You scream like a girl!" He slapped his thighs.

"You should've seen your face," Dark snickered.

Even Meta Knight's eyes turned an amused shade of pink.

Marth muttered something under his breath. He rose, and with an upward slash of his arm he sliced the branch that Dark was hanging on off of the tree.

"GAH!" The Hylian fell face-first on the ground, comically making a Dark Link-shaped hole in the leaves. Now Roy was doubled over with laughter.

"There," Marth propped his sword back on his shoulder. "Now we're even."

"Alright, now," Meta Knight stepped between them, like a father with two sons. "I think that's enough for today. Let's get to the important part...we found some extremely useful information today."

"What, that Marth is a concussion-giving douchebag?" Dark asked, popping up from the pile of leaves.

Meta Knight ignored him. "An update on the other teams."

"Oh, okay, we're paying attention now," Ike said.

"Alright, then. The explosions I presume you heard earlier? We don't know who set them off, but all of the other teams, not including us, were attacked. It wasn't you, right?" Meta Knight looked at Link, who shook his head.

"Nope."

"Good. And it wasn't Dark, who was with us at the time. Anyway, the first person with explosives you would have thought of would be...?"

"Snake." Marth, Ike, and Link answered in unison.

"Exactly. So of course all of the other teams who were attacked unknowingly allied with each other to take his team down."

"And what happened?" Marth asked. "He didn't do anything."

"We know, but I guess the other teams didn't. We are most certain that a fight between them broke out because..." Meta Knight trailed off.

"...because we found Toad's dead body crushed under a tree," Roy finished, bluntly.

Everyone was silent. The birds twittered as if they wanted them to keep going, but only the wind answered back.

"The first death?" Ike asked.

Roy nodded grimly. "They were just trying to scare the other teams away, but Toad tried to save Peach and got himself killed. They had agreed to 'no killing other people'. And what's worse, they don't even think its their fault! They blame it on whoever set off the bombs, which of course they think is us. And we know for sure they're coming after us so we need to watch our steps. We overheard that much from Samus and Captain Falcon."

Marth blinked. "They're coming after us? As in, someone might be watching us from behind a tree right now?"

On cue everyone looked over their shoulders at the forest.

"Well then, we should get going. We need rest and...and Ike keeps spitting on me!" Link glared at Ike.

"What? No, it's raining you idiot!"

"Oh. And someone's stomach growling was the thunder, right?"

"No, I'm serious. Where's our fire then, if you need proof?"

Sure enough, the small campsite's landmark had disappeared.

"Oh, crap! The fire!" Marth put his hands on top of his head.

"What?" Dark asked.

"I should've put it out before we left...because the smoke would've risen up to the sky and completely given away our position! From the time we started it to the time it went out...that's plenty of time for someone to figure out our location. They can't be too far."

"Smooth move, Marth," Ike muttered.

_I'm an idiot._ Marth hit his head against a tree. He jumped back as lightning flashed in the sky at exactly the same time.

"Whoa, Thor!" Roy said.

"Shh!" Meta Knight held up a hand and lowered his voice. "I saw them. There were two. We have to go _now_."

"Wait, what?" Link asked.

"SHH!"

"Sorry. Two whats?" he whispered.

"People. When the lightning flashed, I saw them." He backed away, then turned around.

_Snap_. A twig, not far away.

"Run!"

Darkness swallowed the team as they escaped into the forest.


	9. Sinking Deeper p2

"How much longer?" Marth yelled above the howling wind. He squinted and tried to make out Meta Knight's form in the downpour. He barely saw the smaller knight's shrug.

The Altean prince sighed. His spirits sank. But his feet carried him forward like wheels on a train.

Lighting flashed occasionally, revealing the two silhouettes in the night. They were larger than Meta Knight, but shorter than Roy. One of them was a tiny bit taller and skinnier than the other. Otherwise, there was no real difference between them.

Sometimes they appeared less and less frequently until they seemed to have completely disappeared. But the squelch of muddy footsteps and twigs always gave them away.

Finally, the outline of a gray, office-like building appeared in the seemingly endless torrent of rain. Meta Knight waved for them to follow him toward it, and Marth breathed a sigh of relief. He swept his dripping hair out of his eyes and pumped his legs faster. The sound of his feet completely gave them away, but Marth was pretty sure it wouldn't matter once they were inside.

He stopped when his hands touched the cool metal, and he leaned against it to try and catch his breath. The rain was stopped by a panel sticking out in the wall a little above them.

Beside him, Roy dropped to the ground with an almost concealed groan. He was clutching with both hands at his injured shin.

Darn, I forgot about that, Marth thought as he mentally facepalmed.

"Are you okay?" Link asked him.

Roy nodded, but Marth could see his face, contorted in pain. He held out a hand to his friend. "Come on, let's get you inside." He put a hand on Roy's shoulder as Ike helped him support the other one. Together, they led him into the building.

As soon as their whole team was inside, Meta Knight slammed the door shut behind him and plunged them all into an even blacker darkness than outside. A deep click echoed in the small space as the door locked automatically. "Well, that should keep them out. And the windows seem to be too high up to offer an entrance."

Marth looked up. Sure enough, they were about 10 feet off the ground. He relaxed and helped Roy onto the floor, then sat beside him.

"What do we do now?" the redhead asked. He stretched his leg out in front of him.

"We find a light switch." Dark's answer came before Marth could open his mouth. The elf was walking around, blindly sliding his hand along the walls and trying to find something that stuck out.

"Oh, it's fine," Link waved this off. "We have the lightning."

"Okay then. Don't blame me if you fall into a bottomless pit."

Marth caught Link's blue eyes roll towards the ceiling.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light illuminated the small room through the windows, making it seem like daytime. Now he could see almost every detail of the room they were in. Small cages lined the walls, they looked like they could be good resting places for the night. He couldn't really see what was inside of them, but nothing moved so it was most likely safe. Another door was placed opposite of the one they had entered.

"Nice," Ike walked over to a corner of the room and started arranging some of the cages. "I'm gonna crash here, alright?"

"What? No you're not." Dark laid down on the makeshift bed. "I am."

"Hey!"

"Well, I hate to admit it Ike, but...he's right," Marth spoke up as his mind landed on something. "Roy and Meta Knight too. They've been away the whole day so...I mean, what have we done? You, Link, and I should take first watch."

"First watch? What are you–" Ike groaned. "Aw, can't we play rock-paper-scissors or something?"

"No, I think that's fair enough," Link said.

"Fine. Five minute shifts."

"What?!" Roy exclaimed.

"Three hours," Dark suggested.

"No, they need their rest too. Two hours," Meta Knight said.

"No way! Thirty minutes!"

"An hour and a half."

"ONE MINUTE!"

"Forty-five!"

"The whole night..."

"Really, man?"

"Fifty minutes."

"Okay! People!" Marth's head was starting to spin. "One hour shifts. There, it's done. Wahoo. Come on, guys." With that, he began walking toward the other door, ending the argument. Link and Ike looked at each other, then followed him.

Once they were in the other hallway, Marth quietly closed the door. Ike banged his head against it and Link sighed.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Come on guys, one hour's not that bad. It'll be over before you know it," Marth tried. "They're the reason we're alive right now. And the least they deserve is that rest! So, go and make yourselves useful. Find food or something." Without waiting for a response, Marth continued down the hallway. He opened a random door to his right and entered it.

The rain was subsiding, he noticed, as it didn't sound like a million hands were knocking on the roof anymore. He sat down on a small crate lying near the door and surveyed the room.

"Why the heck...is there a box floating in the air?"

Sure enough, a transparent blue box looked like it was suspended by a string. Inside, there was a red ball with an exclamation point on it. Curiosity won out. He got up, walked over to it, and poked it with his sword. Then he jumped back, expecting the ground to open up underneath him.

Nothing happened.

"Well, I guess it's alright then..." Marth muttered, trailing off. He turned around to leave, but he felt something brush against his foot. "Huh?"

Now he was staring at a large pile of food sitting at his feet. "That's convenient." Only then the need for something to eat made itself clear. After making sure the hamburgers weren't bombs and the ice dream wasn't poisoned, he gathered it in his arms and dropped it off in the first room.

Not before taking a slice of pizza for himself, though.

Finally, after forty-five minutes of doing completely nothing, boredom overcame him. Marth went outside.

"It's just to check," he assured Link. "It'll be fine, I'll be right back. I promise."

The rain had almost stopped, and was now coming down as a soft drizzle. The cool droplets stroked his face and calmed him down a bit. He circled the building a couple times with the help of the moonlight.

"We're clear. There's nothing." He paused to yawn. "And our shift's almost over, anyway. I have to get back inside before–" There was a sudden, smooth hissing sound. "–before it starts raining again." He sighed and started back to the entrance. The sound grew louder, and he broke into a run.

Marth rounded the last corner–and gasped. He though his eyes were deceiving him, the sight before him was too strange to process.

A pair of light blue eyes stared back at him. But they weren't Link's eyes. Link didn't wear a red hat and overalls. Link wouldn't use fire to start burning through the wall. And Link's name wasn't Mario.

"You," Marth found his voice as realization dawned on him. "You were the one following us!"

Immediately, the plumber drew his hand away from the wall as if it has shocked him. The mark from his fire still burned red-hot. He gave Marth one last look, then turned to run. Mario didn't get far before the arrow embedded itself in his chest and he collapsed to the ground.

The Altean prince looked to his left in shock. Link had materialized out of thin air, and was already loading another arrow. When Mario lay motionless, he turned to Marth. "Run. Now!"

"What?" Marth asked in confusion. "Why?"

"No. Wait! Did he have fire in his hand?" Link ignored his initial question.

"Um, yes..."

"Then RUN!" He roughly shoved Marth way from the building, back toward the woods. "Ike!"

"I'm here." The mercenary appeared and joined them.

"Okay. We have to get away...now! I'll explain later!"

Link led them back into the woods they were trying to escape earlier. What is going on? Marth wondered. And we forgot everyone else...

"Link, what is it?" Marth asked him, trying to keep up with the hero's sprint. "Why are we running?"

"It's...it's part of the Subspace Bomb Factory...I didn't know until I saw the sign! " Link answered between gasps of air. "It's why...the cages hold bombs, and Mario's fire...we can't go back now!"

"WHAT?!" Marth stopped dead in his tracks. His body reacted before his brain could, and before he knew it he was heading back to the building.

Ike was faster, though. "Marth, no!" He wrapped a muscular arm around the prince's neck in a firm headlock. Not enough to strangle him, but enough to pull him along.

"NO!" Again, instinct took over and Marth sank his teeth into Ike's arm like a wild animal. He heard his friend suck in a sharp breath, but Ike didn't let go.

Finally, after a few more moments of running and dragging Marth along, they crouched behind a rock. The prince had just about given up and was lying as limp as a rag doll. Tears made their way down his face.

They did absolutely nothing to soften the sound of the explosion, and didn't block out the sight of the hellish fire eating away at the darkness. Debris was flying everywhere. The second that Marth felt Ike's iron grip on him loosen, he broke free.

"MARTH!" Now it was Link chasing after him, but Ike followed close behind. He didn't care. He could probably outrun them both anyway. Trees and bushes were nothing, he crashed right through them even though they scraped his face and grabbed his clothes. _I'll get there even if it kills me,_ he thought.

At last, Marth reached the edge of the burning crater. The fire still danced in the sky as if it was taunting him. _Look. Look what you did. You failed to protect them, you failed, you failed... _

"SHUT UP!" Marth gritted his teeth and sank to the ground_. I failed. Roy, Meta Knight, Dark...I'm sorry._

He looked up as he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Oh...there you are, Ike." The mercenary gave a nod, but his eyes were locked onto the flames.

"Why?" A voice came from the other side. Link. Marth looks over at him. "Why would someone be so sick and twisted that it would drive them to do this?"

"Isn't the answer simple?" Ike asked. He dug his golden sword out of the ground, it's blade glowing eerily in the fire's reflection. He turned around and walked back into the forest. His red cape fluttered in the wind, making it look like a pair of wings. "Vengeance. And now it's our turn."

* * *

**Now, wait a second, hold the pies! *hides behind Link* If you look again, my list says CLAIMED DEAD, not COMPLETELY DEAD. In other words, it means they might still be alive. **


	10. Author's Note

**Hey guys, it's the author. DUH, lol. This is here so I can show you that no, I'm not dead. Although I know some of you wish I was. XP**

**Yes, I know. I haven't updated in, like, forever. I'm really, really, really sorry for that. Something happened to my iPod, it died and won't charge. Who knows why? I have all of my stuff on there (Notes) so I can't really get it onto the computer (I email it to myself and Copy and Paste on Word). I can't remember it either. I'm so so so sorry!**

**Now here it is: I'm going on hiatus until I can get my iPod back. Not being able to update, It bothers me as much as it bothers you. I hope you guys will understand. I promise, promise, promise I'll update the day I get it back. It could be a while though. 8(**

**Info on the iPod problem would also help. The charging picture still shows up (empty battery with a little red, and that little lightning thing), but it's not actually charging. I only exchanged it for my old one about 2 years ago, I carry it in my pocket a lot, and there are no cracks or anything. **

**Thanks so much to all of you who will still read Last One Standing even after this, and again, I'm very very sorry. **

**datenXshi**


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